Although she knows war is raging in foreign lands, 15-year-old Olive Alexander never thought it would really reach her. She thought she was safe on the isolated ranch in New Mexico's Jornado del Muerto desert, where her family has lived for generations. Then, her beloved older brother enlisted. And now, the Army has claimed 75% of the Alexanders' land for a top-secret military project. Olive's seen the posters—everyone must do their part for the war effort—she just never thought her part would include leaving her home. Especially without her mother, who has to stay behind to work the portion of the ranch that still belongs to the Alexanders.

Olive's not happy about moving to Alamogordo to live with her grandmother. She's not happy that her mother isn't coming along. And she's really not happy about being forced to go to public school, when she's always been taught at home. Olive's Alamogordo classmates either ignore her or make fun of her, except for one—Jo Hawthorne, who's also new to the school. Sure, she's a pious Jesus freak, but at least she's nice. There's only one problem. Jo's father is the Army sergeant who's taken over Olive's ranch. The two can't possibly be friends. Except they do form an unlikely bond. Then, one day, the sky explodes, Jo disappears, and the girls never see each other again.

Seven years later, Jo is back in Alamogordo. Changed by her years away, she has returned to demand answers from her estranged father. What really happened on the day of the explosion? What was he actually doing out in the desert? And where is Olive? Jo won't stop digging until she has the answers.

I loved Jennifer L. Wright's debut novel, If It Rains, so I was thrilled when I discovered she had a new book coming out. Come Down Somewhere, her sophomore effort, revolves around a homefront World War II event that I'd never heard of before. Bonus. I dig historical novels that highlight interesting but forgotten incidents. The book is more about the characters than anything, though, and both Olive and Jo are likable and sympathetic, even if they're not particularly unique or memorable. Their relationship definitely needed more development; it didn't feel strong enough to send a grown-up Jo on such a determined quest to figure out what happened to a childhood friend. Even though I didn't feel super connected to either of the girls, I did become invested in their story. Plot-wise, the novel kind of crawls along, with most of the action happening at the end of the novel. Although it defintiely drags in places, I found the story compelling enough to keep reading. The Big Reveal wasn't a huge surprise; it wasn't super obvious either. All these things considered, I didn't enjoy Come Down Somewhere nearly as much as I did If It Rains, which is disappointing. Still, I liked it for the most part. I do think Wright is a talent to watch, so I'll be keeping en eye out for her next book.

Wright's books are Christian novels, which are always hit-or-miss for me. As a religious person, I appreciate stories that are uplifting and faith-promoting. If they get cheesy or heavy-handed? I'm out. Unfortunately, Come Down Somewhere tilts a little too much in the preachy direction, which gets annoying at times. I prefer subtle lessons. Nevertheless, I give Wright props for writing clean, hopeful, God-positive books.  

(Readalikes: Wright's books remind me of those by Amy Lynn Green and Jocelyn Green.)

To the FTC, with love: I bought a copy of Come Down Somewhere with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger. Ha ha.

Today's TTT topic is a nostalgic, walk-down-memory-lane type deal, but my memory is just not up to the task! If yours is good enough, then you might enjoy listing the Top Ten Books I Read On Vacation (bonus points if you can tell us where you were). Me? I'm going to twist the topic around a bit. I toyed with some vacation-y spins and finally decided to steal an idea from Wendy over at The Bashful Bookworm. A couple weeks ago, she made a TTT list of book covers with vehicles on them. I thought that was a fun topic and since vehicles mean travel, it works well for today. 

Before we get to my list, though, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give Jana, our hostess with the mostest, some love!

1. New From Here by Kelly Yang—It's hard to see, but the cover of my current read features an airplane flying through the title. The book is about a Chinese-American family living in Hong Kong who decides to flee to their summer home in California to escape the coronavirus. It's told from the point of view of 10-year-old Knox, whose struggles with ADHD are exacerbated by missing his father (who stayed behind to work), going to a new school, sharing a bedroom with his annoying older brother, and dealing with prejudice against Asian people (who are being blamed for bringing the virus to the U.S.). I'm only a few chapters in, but this middle grade novel is already proving to be a powerful, impacting read. 

2. All the Lost Places by Amanda Dykes (available December 13, 2022)—I love this gorgeous cover with its Venetian gondola! The story is about a baby who's discovered floating in a basket along the canals of Venice. Taken in by a guild of artisans, he's raised as their own, although he still wonders about his mysterious origins. One hundred years later, a translator comes to the city to procure a rare book. Within its pages, he'll discover an intriguing story about a floating infant...

3. Miss Aldridge Regrets by Louise Hare—Lena Aldridge lives a gritty, unfulfilling life as a lounge singer in London, where she must hide her mixed-race heritage and pass as white. When she's offered the opportunity to sing on Broadway, she eagerly boards the RMS Queen Mary, excited to begin a new life in America. Her hopes sink when she finds herself embroiled in a murder onboard that puts all her dreams—not to mention her life—at risk.

4. Olive Bright, Pigeoneer by Stephanie Graves—This World War II mystery sounds interesting. The titular character is the owner of a flock of racing pigeons which she hopes will be requested by the National Pigeon Service to help with the war effort. A duo do come calling, but they're intelligence officers asking Olive to aid in a covert operation against the Germans. Soon after they arrive, a local woman is found murdered outside Olive's pigeon loft. Just what has Olive gotten herself into?

5. The Ways We Hide by Kristina McMorris—Similar to the above, this WWII novel features an illusionist's assistant who specializes in creating spectacular escapes to thrill audiences. When British military intelligence asks her to use her expertise to help them win the war, she's eager to help. It soon becomes clear, however, that her mission is much more dangerous than she ever imagined it could be.

6. Iceberg by Jennifer A. Nielsen (available March 17, 2023)—I enjoy Nielsen's historical fiction for middle graders as well as books about the Titanic, so I'm very excited for this one. It's about a young stowaway with big plans for her new life in America who gets caught up in an intriguing mystery and a desperate struggle for survival.

7. Simmer Down by Sarah Smith—This rom-com featuring dueling food trucks on a Maui beach sounds fun. I was an exchange student in the Philippines during high school, so I can't wait for all the Filipino food talk. Yum!

8. Peanut Butter Panic by Amanda Flower—I love this charming cozy mystery series. This installment, book seven, has Bailey King providing sweets for a big Thanksgiving event in town. When a man dies from an allergic reaction after eating her desserts, she's shocked. Once again, she finds herself investigating a puzzling murder.

9. The Call of the Wrens by Jenni L. Walsh—Speaking of carrier pigeons, this novel revolves around a woman who joins the Women's Royal Naval Service (aka, the "wrens") and becomes a motorcycle dispatch rider tasked with delivering the birds to the front during World War I. Two decades later, she's called back into service at the beginning of another world war.

10. Better Off Read by Nora Page—Desperate to save her town's storm-damaged library, Cleo Watkins hits the road in her bookmobile to drum up support in her small Georgia town. When a potential benefactor ends up dead and her best friend stands accused of his murder, Cleo must play Nancy Drew to figure out whodunit. 

Like any bookworm, I love me a store full of books. I can't resist them and I rarely leave without buying at least one new volume. My local indie, Changing Hands, is a wonderful place to browse for new reading material as well as a great place to trade used books for store credit (which I do at least once a year). I've been to some other well-known bookshops: the Strand (New York City), Powell's Books (Portland, Oregon), and Shakespeare and Company (Paris, France). My family and I visited Paris last year around this time, when there were still COVID restrictions in place. The store was limiting how many people could be inside at one time and there was already a long line to get in, so I wasn't able to actually go inside the famous shop, but I did see it, so I'm counting it! I don't have a bookstore bucket list (Maybe I should start one?), so I got nothin' for this week's prompt—Top Ten Favorite Bookstores OR Bookstores I'd Like to Visit. No matter, I'll just twist it up a little bit.

I adore a good cozy mystery any time of year, but Fall seems like the best time to read them. I've noticed many that are set in bookshops and libraries. I've yet to find a good bookish cozy series that I love, but there are a number of them on my TBR list that I hope will fit the bill. Please suggest any that are not on my list and I'll check them out.

Don't forget to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give our lovely host, Jana, some love. If you want to join in the TTT fun (which you definitely do!), all the details are on her blog.

Top Ten Bookish Cozy Mysteries I Want to Read 

1. The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton—The first installment in the Scottish Bookshop series, this one tells the story of a woman from Kansas who, on a whim, applies for a job at a bookstore in Scotland. Naturally, the place is filled with quirky book people and tantalizing secrets. When a valuable artifact goes missing and a woman is killed, it also becomes a place where murder is fact instead of just fiction.

2. Crime and Poetry by Amanda Flower—I love Flower's Amish Candy Shop mystery series, so I'm sure to dig this one. In this opener to the Magical Bookshop series, Violet Waverly is called back to Michigan to help her ailing grandmother with her bookstore. When she sees that the woman is in perfect health, she realizes she's been tricked into coming home. Although she's determined to head right back to Chicago, Violet can't leave after a murder happens in the shop. She has to stay and clear her grandmother's name.

3. The Plot Is Murder by V.M. Burns—What is it with Michigan and people getting murdered in bookstores? Yikes! In this initial installment of the Mystery Bookshop series, Samantha Washington is about to make her dream of owning a bookstore come true. At the same time, she's writing a historical cozy mystery in which her heroine investigates a puzzling murder. Art starts to imitate life when Samantha discovers a dead realtor in her backyard. In order to prove her innocence, she'll have to play amateur sleuth and find the real killer.

4. Death On Demand by Carolyn G. Hart—Annie Laurance's bookstore, Death on Demand, isn't located in Michigan (it's in South Carolina), but it still becomes the site of a baffling murder. In this 1987 series opener, a famous mystery author is killed in the bookstore and Annie must figure out whodunit.

5. Guidebook to Murder by Lynn Cahoon—The Tourist Trap mystery series has been recommended to me by multiple bloggers. This series opener introduces Jill Gardner, who owns Books, Coffee, and More in a quaint California tourist town. She's struggling to keep her business afloat when an elderly friend dies suddenly, leaving Jill her crumbling old house. The dilapidated home isn't the only thing she's been gifted, though—along with the old lady's abode, Jill seems to have inherited her secrets and enemies as well. Suspecting her friend was murdered, the bookshop owner launches her own investigation into the death.

6. Murder By the Book by Lauren Elliott—When Addie Greyborne inherits her aunt's home in the colonial New England town founded by their ancestors, she sees it as a chance to escape sour memories and start over. With her aunt's collection of rare books, Addie has enough inventory to start her own shop, Beyond the Page Bookstore. Unfortunately, her new life is not going as smoothly as planned. When Addie's friend is arrested for murder, she knows she can't stand idly by. She has to clear her friend's name, even if it means risking her own neck. 

7. By Book Or By Crook by Eva Gates—Lighthouses have always fascinated me, so I love that this series features a lighthouse library. How fun is that? In this first installment, Lucy retreats to the Outer Banks to lick her wounds and gets a job as a librarian. She soon finds herself investigation both a book theft and a murder.

8. The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Ransom—Speaking of book thefts, this first installment in the Mobile Library Mystery series concerns a truckload of missing books. It's up to Israel Armstrong, the new mobile librarian to figure out what happened to his inventory.

9. Murder Past Due by Miranda James—This series features another male lead, Charlie Harris, and his pet coon cat, Diesel. In this first book, the pair are investigating the murder of a best-selling author, whose jerkiness has finally caught up to him.

10. Buried in a Book by Lucy Arlington—When journalist Lila Wilkins loses her job, she accepts an internship at a North Carolina literary agency. Lila's thrilled at the idea of being paid to read, but when an author drops dead in the agency's waiting room, she finds herself in the middle of a disturbing real life crime. Who offed the unfortunate writer?

There you are, ten bookish cozy mysteries on my TBR list. Have you read any of them? Which bookish cozy series are your faves? Did you feature bookstores on your list today? Which do you love/dream of visiting? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

I'm a little late to the party today, but I didn't want to miss out on TTT. These weekly lists are pretty much all I've been managing to post lately, so...yeah. Today's official topic is Top Ten Typographic Book Covers. I'm not feeling that one; instead, I'm going to go with something more seasonal. Spooky books always appeal to me, but they're even more alluring the closer we get to Halloween. I can't handle anything too gory or horror-y these days as I'm becoming a right wimp in my old age. However, I still enjoy an atmospheric Gothic tale or a shivery ghost story, the kind that are spine-tingling without being nightmare-inducing. My favorite trope by far is the haunted house. Give me a broody old pile with a mysterious past, secrets swirling through the corridors, and plenty of ghosts in the closets (real and/or metaphorical) and I'm a happy reader. The authors I prefer in this genre are: Eve Chase, Carol Goodman, Simone St. James, Riley Sager, Jennifer McMahon, etc. If you've got any suggestions for readalike authors, let me know. In the meantime, I'll share my list of the Top Ten Haunted House Books On My TBR List.

First, though, be sure to click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl and give TTT's fearless hostess some love. Then, make your own list and enjoy a fun evening of blog hopping. It's a good time, I promise!

Top Ten Haunted House Books On My TBR List  

1. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson—For some reason, I still haven't read this classic haunted house novel. It's about four people who gather at a notoriously spook-infested old mansion. Strange happenings occur. 

2. Girls of Brackenhill by Kate Moretti—When human remains are discovered at Hannah Maloney's ancestral castle in the Catskills, she's convinced they're the bones of her sister, who disappeared seventeen years ago. Obsessed with figuring out what really happened all those years ago, Hannah uncovers disturbing secrets from the past.

3. The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell—Two years ago, a young woman left her baby with her mother and headed to a party at a house in the woods. She never returned. In the present, Sophie is strolling through the forest near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just accepted a position. She sees a note that says, "Dig here." Sounds like an intriguing premise...

4. What Lives in the Woods by Lindsay Currie—This is a children's book—how creepy can it possibly be? Probably enough to scare me silly! The story is set in a decrepit old mansion deep in the Michigan woods called Woodmoor Manor. Rumors in the town say it was once the home of a mad scientist whose disturbing experiments roam through the trees, always watching. 

5. The Good House by Tananarive Due—Trying to put her life back together after her son's suicide, Angela Toussaint returns to her ancestral home, the place where her boy took his own life. What she finds is a sentient evil that's causing residents of her town to act out in violence. Is it the same entity her grandmother battled long ago? Just what is it that lurks in her home—and in her family history?

6. Death Overdue by Allison Brook—The first installment in a series, this cozy mystery features a haunted library in Connecticut. When a retired homicide detective who claims to know the murderer of a beloved library aide is killed, the library's new event planner vows to find his killer. 

7. Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas—Located deep in the forests of Pennsylvania, Catherine House is an elite, unconventional school that has educated some of the most brilliant minds in America. School policy demands that students leave their outside lives behind and devote three years of their lives to an intense education. Ines is finding herself inside the strange institution when tragedy strikes, making her question everything that's happening at Catherine House.

8. The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen—In an attempt to outrun her past and finish the cookbook she's writing, Ava Collette retreats to an old pile on the coast of Maine. Her peaceful reverie is broken when she starts hearing strange noises in the night. When an apparition appears to her, Ava begins looking into the disappearance of the house's previous renter. Something sinister is going on and Ava intends to get to the bottom of it.

9. The Winter Guest by W.C. Ryan—Once a grand Irish mansion, Kilcolgan House is now a crumbling pile filled with broken people and whispering ghosts. When Lord Kilcolgan's oldest daughter is killed, an IRA intelligence officer comes to the home to investigate. As he digs into the secrets of Kilcolgan House, he uncovers secrets galore. Can he use them to find the murderer?

10. The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates—Coates has several books that fit this genre, but this one sounds especially good to me. Plus, I like the symmetry of ending my list with a title similar to the one I began it with. The plot concerns a woman who inherits a creepy old house after the owner, a mysterious recluse, dies. With ominous messages scrawled on the wallpaper, a hidden grave in the backyard, and portraits that seem to watch her every move, the new occupant is understandably unnerved. As she digs into the house's sinister past, she begins to believe every terrifying rumor she's ever heard about the place...

There you go, ten haunted house novels that should make for excellent, eerie Halloween reading. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Can you think of any similar books I might like? I love recs! What books did you feature on your TTT list today? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.